(Phnom Penh) US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, during an express visit aimed at counterbalancing China’s influence in the Asian country. from the South-East.
“We discussed how the United States and Cambodia can strengthen their defense relations to support regional peace and stability,” the Pentagon boss wrote on his X account.
Washington takes a dim view of the rapprochement between Phnom Penh and Beijing, which is investing billions of dollars in the small kingdom as part of its so-called “New Silk Roads” program.
The Americans particularly fear that a recently modernized Cambodian naval base could be used by Chinese warships, despite denials from local authorities.
Lloyd Austin arrived Tuesday morning from Singapore, where he met his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun on Friday on the sidelines of a security forum.
He has one thing in common with Hun Manet, who succeeded his father Hun Sen last summer as prime minister: having studied at the prestigious West Point military academy, near New York.
“Relations between the United States and Cambodia are at a turning point, after Hun Manet became prime minister,” said Carl Thayer, professor emeritus at the Australian University of New South Wales.
In 2017, Phnom Penh canceled a series of joint military exercises with Washington. The resumption of this program – which Cambodia carried out with China last May – is on the table for discussions, according to Cambodian political analyst Ou Virak.
Lloyd Austin’s visit is also a “message from the United States to China, to say that the region is too important and that China will not have free rein,” continues the expert.
Washington has also made a habit of denouncing human rights violations in Cambodia, where repression targets any dissenting voice.
After Cambodia, Lloyd Austin is expected in France for the 80e anniversary of the Allied landings of June 6, 1944.